How to Prioritize Your Stratas Exterior Cleaning needs with your budget

When it comes to exterior cleaning and maintenance your strata or property will need to consider the following services:

 

  • Window and Frame Cleaning – Generally the windows inaccessible to unit owners
  • Gutter/Eavestrough Cleaning – no debris blocking, no leaks or over spills
  • Concrete and Building Pressure Washing – Keeping the exterior of the building presentable and attractive so that it doesn’t start to look run down and degraded
  • Roof Cleaning and Maintenance – Keeping the roof maintained and free from moss and other organic growth that over time will degrade the shingles

 

Below is a table with what I would suggest for your Strata Maintenance Schedule as far as priority, frequency, and funding goes. Some of these services may be included in your annual operating fund where as others may need to be planned with the contingency reserve.

 

Service Priority Frequency Funds
1.)   Gutter Cleaning Minimum Once Per Year Operating Fund
2.)   Window Cleaning Minimum Once Per Year Operating Fund
3.)   Roof Moss Treatment Every 3-5 Years Contingency Reserve
4.)   Pressure Washing Minimum Every 2 Years Operating Fund

 

Strata Maintenance Kelowna

Heres Why We Think These Maintenance Items are Important:

I ranked gutter cleaning as 1st priority because gutters tend to clog up and overflow more than people think. All it takes is one bad rainstorm and bad drainage and you can get water damage or leaking into an underground basement.

Next I chose window cleaning because glass is quite expensive and if you wait too long to clean windows they will start to build up calcium and other minerals on the glass. If this is left on for multiple years it can require a different and more expensive cleaning method to remove which most strata’s are prepared to pay for so the work never happens because strata’s don’t have the funds for it. So they end up just getting normal window cleaning services every year and the hard water mineral deposits are never removed. Its so important to stay on top of this.

In 3rd Place is Roof Moss Treatment. Moss and Lichen feeds on and will erode and lift shingles over time. Now, this isn’t a red alert, some moss growth is normal and you don’t need to treat it as soon as yesterday . But if left to grow over time Moss and Lichen feeds on and will erode and lift your shingles. This is a tougher ones for strata’s and property managers to budget because its not a per annual thing. But having your roof moss treated (Sprayed to kill) is so important in your asphalt shingles longevity. It will save you thousands of dollars in the long run when you don’t need to splurge on a new roof so soon.

Finally we get down to pressure washing. And because of its expensive price point and lower priority this is the one we generally see fall to the bottom of the maintenance list. We are very fortunate here in the Okanagan to have a more dry climate and so mold and algae is less of an issue. But still in certain shady parts of town and especially with vinyl siding you will need to have this cleaned. We don’t recommend having your property go longer than 3 years without at least some basic concrete and siding cleaning.

 

Contributed by: Next level Window Cleaning – Foremost Experts in Home and Facility Maintenance.

Brandon Gawdun